Improvement in elastic clasps for shoes



O. LIBBY. Elastic Clasp for Shoes.

No. 221,414. Patented Nov. I1, 1879.

Fig.

\X/ITNEEEEE, I I I [Ah/ENTER N.PETERS. PHOTO-LITDIDGRAPHER. WASHINGTUN.D. C.

'Unrrnn STATE-s CYRUS LIBBY, OF

l IMPROVEMENT IN ELASTIC CLASPSFOR SHOES.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 221,414, dated November11, 1879 application filed June To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CYRUS LIBBY, of Chicago, in the county of Cook andState of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inElastic Clasps for Shoes; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theacompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to a clasp designed especially to be applied to thelapels of the shoe described in Letters Patent numbered 189,476, anddated April 10, 1877, but applicable equally to other styles of shoes,and to other articles wherein the elastic portion, as heretoforeconstructed, is exposed to wear.

My said improved shoe has, as one feature of its construction,rearward-folding lapels, forming partof the top, which lapels more orless nearly meet at the back of the ankle, and which are held togetherand down in place at their margins by an elastic strap fastened to onelapel and provided with a metal loop or eye at its free end, whichcatches upon ahook fastened to the other lapel.

It also consists in providing the metal eye portion of the fasteningwith an upturned lip, by which it may be more easily manipulated, andwhich adapts the clasp to be applied to the lapel between its twothicknesses, and in this position prevents thelo )p from being drawn inout of easyreach.

These and other features of my device will be further set forth byreference to the drawings, in which Figure 1 shows the blank from whichthe eye is formed, said blank having wings, by which, when properlybent, it is clamped upon the leather section, and also an extension,

which, in the completed clasp, forms the upturned lip already mentioned.Fig. 2 is an under-side view of the clasp complete. Fig. 3 is a view ofthe outer side. Fig. 4 is a side elevation, and Fig. 5 a perspectiveview, of the same. In Fig. 6 is shown a rear view of an upper havinglapels and my clasp applied thereto, and in Fig. 7 is shown a side viewof the same style of upper with clasp in place.

A is a blank struck from sheet metal, and having the hole S to form theeye proper, the

wings I) b to be bent inwardly upon the strap portion, and thus unitethe eye to the 'strap, and aprojection, a, which forms the upturned lipin the finished clasp.

L is a leather section of the strap, in which a piece of proper shape isfolded double, with its edges meeting centrally on the'under side, asshown in Fig. 2-. One end of the folded leather is firmly clamped by thewings b 1) against the body 0 of the metal eye, as also clearly seen inFig. 2. The other end of the leather part embraces one end of theelastic fabric forming the section E of theistrap, and is stitchedthereto, as shown by dotted lines in -Figs. 2, 3, and 5. i

P is the lip, made by throwing upffthe projection a of Fig. 1 so as tobe nearly vertical with the body of the loop 0. The loop portion of theblank is struck up in the bent form clearly seen in Figs. 4. and 5, theopening S extending back to the plain portion or body of O.

In applying the clasp so constructed to the shoe, the elastic portion Eis inserted through a suitable slit, 8, near the margin of one lapel,and its inner end is secured by stitching, as shown at m, Fig. 6. Thehook at is secured to the opposite lapel near the margin thereof. Thestrap formed of the parts E and L is nearly or wholly inserted withinthe lapel up to thelip I, which may serve as a stop to pre vent thewithdrawal of the metal portion, also within the slit, and, byprojecting more than the thickness of the leather, enables one to easilycatch the metal part by thumb or finger nail for the purpose of snappingthe loop over the hook. In most cases, when the shoe is on the foot,some portion of the leather portion L will be drawn out of the recess;but it is in tended that this part shall be so long that none of theelastic part E will be exposed. Whatever wear occurs, therefore, fallson the leather L, except as this also is somewhat relieved by theprominence of the lip P.

Thus made and applied, the clasp is found to be as durable as otherportions of the shoe, and the expense and inconvenience of providin gnew clasps are obviated, greatly to the advantage of the special styleof shoe to which I particularly apply the same, and which is otherwiseapproved.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In an elastic clasp fora shoe, the metal loop-piece 0, provided with the upturned lip P,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a shoe having rearward-foldin g lapels, the clasp described,having the metal looppiece 0, the leather part L, and the elastic part Eapplied to the lapel by having the elastie part set in between the twothicknesses of the lapel and secured, substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

CYRUS LIBBY. Witnesses:

M. E. DAYTON, JESSE Cox, Jr.

